Watermelon Jalapeno poppers

For a recent fundraising event for the Harbor to the Bay charity bike ride, I made these Watermelon Jalapeno edible cocktails topped with candied jalapeno peppers. 

The gelatin is made from fresh local watermelons and a simple syrup made from jalapenos, lime juice, watermelon vodka, and watermelon pucker. 

The watermelon and jalapenos came from the Davis Square Farmers Market. The watermelon variety was known as a something something sweet. I have a short short term memory.  It was incredibly sweet so I just it and added just a bit of sugar and lemon juice to heighten the flavor. 

Now as for the japapeno, I made the mistake of taste testing one as I was used to the blander supermarket version.  Yowsers is all I can say. I took a tiny piece and the fire hit me. After two glasses of milk the fire and a slice of bread, the fire was still raging on my tongues so I started chewing on butter.  Don't ask me why, I just thought it might help.  It doesn't. 

After a twenty minute delay, I went back to working on the gels. In making the simple syrup, it's hard to be consistent with the amount of jalapeno. Each variety of pepper produces is own amount of capsaicin, the spice molecule we feel as "heat".  It's measured in Scoville heat units.  Even within the same variety of pepper the hotness can vary. Complicating things further the final gel will taste less spicy than when it's still liquid. If someone has invented a litmus test for spiciness let me know.  Some molecular gastronomer must be working on it. Then again, everyone has their own heat tolerance so each person will have their own experience. 

Too finish the shots off, I cut the second jalapeno and candied the pieces in a sugar lime syrup and added just a small slice. 

I'm holding on to summer just a little longer. Happy gelifying!